Cat Tails

Klaws said to Binx, “Stay here.” He made an X in the ground. “Don’t move.” She nodded. He eyed her suspiciously, “Do not get into trouble.” Binx crossed her heart and everything. The street was calm. No trouble anywhere to be seen, so he left Binx watching an odd kitty boy with goggles on his nose who muttered curiously while petting a cold metal tank with a soft “oo” on his lips.

The kitty boy obtained a tool from his belt pouch and started to cut into the metal. “AWWWW,” he whined before exclaiming, “Doctor no let Mr. Pinkles use the sparkly to cut ANY thing!” The kitty boy looked off toward the Fish Company and saw Binx. “Hi-lo, pretty kitty,” he said. She wondered if he was trying to open the tank to live in it. He struggled to explain that he simply wished to see inside. His words were disjointed but, during the conversation, Binx discovered that the kitty boy’s name was Mr. Pinkles and that Mr. Pinkles had nice toys. Nice as in they looked expensive, which was always interesting to Binx who owned very little of value.

While talking with Mr. Pinkles, Binx felt her tail yanked by a woman who was passing by. Binx turned quickly and grabbed her tail protectively. Another woman said teasingly to Binx, “Kitty Kitty…meooww.” Looking from one to the other, Binx’s ears flattened and she tried to look menacing while telling the first lady that she could lose a bra doing such things to kitties. Binx thought she sounded all sorts of bad-assed, but both women laughed at her words until Binx swiped at the first woman’s top catching the bra and cutting one of the straps. The woman stopped dead in her tracks and turned slowly. She glanced at the goggled Mr. Pinkles almost as if assessing him and then focused again on Binx. “I don’t like kittens,” she said dryly. “The only good kitty is a drown one.”

Binx’s ears went flatter as her whiskers twitched. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. It was obvious that neither woman viewed her as a threat. Excellent, thought Binx who noticed that their guards were clearly down. Binx hauled back and smacked the first woman as hard as she could with claws extended while Mr. Pinkles was watching from the shadows and was saying, “Aw. Dead kitties no good.”

The woman’s friend rushed to her side, “Tanika, are you okay?” Tanika angrily brushed her friend aside, and touched her face while glaring at Binx. Binx’s tail whipped sassily as she gleefully noticed that the woman’s bra strap was cut on one side. Tanika brought her hand hard across Binx’s face as quickly as any cat. Never in her life had Binx been struck so hard and, for a moment, she completely forgot where she was!

Mr. Pinkles saw Tanika grabbing for her gun. “Nuuuuuu, Leave pretty kitty ‘lone!” he wailed. Someone on the street shouted not to kill the kitty as others screamed to kill the cat. Tanika shoved Mr. Pinkles from her. “Scat cat!” As he stumbled back, Binx saw the gun and took the opportunity to swipe at Tanika again landing one more blow. Tanika returned much better than she got. Gun fire was heard and Tanika nearly ended one of Binx’s lives. The quiet street seemed animated! The shouting from others contributed enough chaos to allow Binx to back away. “Nuuuuu! No shooty,” Mr. Pinkles shouted as he wrapped his fingers around the end of Tanika’s gun. Another who had arrived told Mr. Pinkles not to touch Tanika and, for a moment, the focus shifted and Binx was left standing shaking in her boots on the street.

Conversation was heated and animated. Binx’s ears were alert as she licked her boo-boos and felt her tummy quiver with nervousness. If truth were told, Bix was terrified but, with the crowd, she was unwilling to back down. However, she was not a dumb kitty and her mind scrambled to think of what to do. She had no intentions of attacking again without provocation. Trying to look cool, Binx licked her arm in what she hoped to be a nonchalant gesture, but her knees were knocking. Mr. Pinkles continued to interfere until Tanika released her guns and drew the bat that had been slung over her shoulder. “Fine,” Tanika said, “So you want to take her place then. Hrm?”

Binx watched as Tanika became momentarily distracted by the cut strap which was slipping on her body. Mr. Pinkles noticed too. He bolted trying to grab Binx to run with her. Unfortunately, at that very moment, Binx had decided to make a run for it. The two collided just after Binx attempted to spring over one of the other friends of Tanika. Binx quickly landed on her feet and hissed at something moving. She realized with no little embarrassment that it was simply her own shadow, and she ran down the street as fast as she could go until she was well-hidden in the woods. She watched as the women talked a moment before going, and she noticed that Mr. Pinkles had also gone. Binx felt her eyes tear up as she licked the blood away with her rough tongue. It hurt.

Binx waited for Klaws to return. Her wounds were throbbing. Rather than Klaws, her friend Jou and Mr. Pinkles were there. After some discussion, it was decided that Binx needed to see a vet. Mr. Pinkles told them of his doctor friend an asked them to follow. Follow, they did, down streets and alleys until they ascended to the rooftops only to arrive on the roof near the hospital. There they found a pod that spoke. Its voice was exceptionally precise. Other kitties came and went. The pod had blinking lights and probes that examined the wounds and healing each one miraculously fast. While working, it asked Mr. Pinkles to introduce his friends. During the examination of the wound, the pod provided food to eat to Jou, and gave Binx some fresh catnip after implanting a radio-activated monitoring microchip into her ear without her knowledge. Mr. Pinkles seemed thrilled to introduce his new friends to the doctor pod.

Later, Jou left. Binx rushed back to where she was supposed to be. Klaws had been waiting and looked relieved to see her. He checked her over quickly and flattened his ears. “Where have you been?” She told him what happened. His eyes widened as his mouth opened in horror at the fact some woman pulled Binx’s tail. He stammered, “And then…and then…..of course, you kicked her ass, right?”

Looking woeful, Binx put her hands in front of her like she was carrying two huge melons. “She was LOTS bigger than me, Klaws.”

His tail flicked and he said, “I don’t care. No one is gonna pull my kitty’s tail without her giving them an ass-kicking.” Her grumbled and put his arm around her steering her toward an abandoned building that he felt would be safe for the night. “Tomorrow, I will teach you how to do more than scratch.” He nodded as he took her to their temporary home.